There is something major happening in the body of Christ around the world that will reshape what church looks like in the future. It’s called the Apostolic church, God is doing a new thing. I call it the Apostolic Reformation because I see it reforming the church like the Protestant Reformation.
Below I will talk generally about what the modern church looks like and what the Apostolic church is going to look like.
Modern day church
In the modern-day church, generally there is a pastor who does the work of the ministry and the congregation who sit and receive from the pastor. The pastor is the one who hears from God, speaks his word, prophesies, evangelises, teaches, prays for the sick, casts out demons, cares for the sheep and much more.
The congregation is encouraged to read the word, pray and worship God; which as a believer is a necessity. They may be asked to volunteer and maybe join a connect group or Bible study, there is nothing wrong with these things when they are inspired by the Holy Spirit (God’s Idea) and not man (Good Idea).
There is often little training for the average believer unless they go to Bible college or they are discipled by a fellow believer. The believer is taught that the pastor is the one who does the ministry and they are to receive from him. That ministry is only for a select few; the guys on TV, YouTube, saints of old and the early apostles.
There is more
This is not enough, there are Christians all around the world who are discontent. They know there is more to the Christian walk then just going to church on a Sunday. Destiny is crying out to them and warming a seat at church is not enough.
They do not want to go to church to hear a good word, to be entertained, they want the real deal. They want to be trained, they want to walk in the spirit, they want to see God’s kingdom come on earth as in heaven. Their spirit is crying out for it. They know there is more they just don’t know what!
Brother, Sister if this is speaking to you, I want to tell you there is nothing wrong with you. The reason you feel this way is because God has called you for more, He wants to teach all His Sons and Daughters how to walk in ministry, whatever that is. This is one of the main functions of a real apostolic church, to train and equip believers for the work of ministry.
The Apostolic church
The Apostolic church has a different structure, briefly put it is based on the 5-fold ministry which is a term to describe an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher who work together to equip believers for ministry. This is how the early church functioned for a time until Constantine changed the structure to Priest and congregation. These scriptures are often used in describing the purpose of the Apostolic church.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
I’ve heard it explained a few times the same sort of way. The evangelist gets the believer saved then moves on to the next person, that is what they do, they are called to see people get saved not pastor. So, the believer goes to the pastor who cares for them and offers guidance, after the believer matures for a time they then go to the prophet.
The prophet gives them vision and direction about their future and what God has called them to. After that they go to the teacher who gives them strategies and teaches them about the ministry they are called to, whatever that be. Then they go to see the apostle who will give them direction and send them out. After a season they often come back to go through the same process (excepting the evangelist) to be refreshed and sent out again.
If this speaks to you, I would encourage you to spend some time with the Holy Spirit and talk about it. I’ve noticed three reactions happen when this message is heard. People either get offended, they don’t care or their open to what God is doing in this new season, May you be the latter. I have only briefly touched on the subject and would encourage anyone interested to look into it further, as I feel I can’t do it justice in this article. If you are wondering what next, this may help.
Advice
If you want to know more about the apostolic read this book called ‘The Apostolic church arising’ by Chuck Pierce and Robert Heidler. which gives a great description in the second and third part of the book. There is a link below for the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Apostolic-Church-Arising-Chuck-Pierce/dp/0979167884
The link below is a great teaching on the 5-fold ministry by Collete Toach.
Through all this my encouragement is to seek God about it, ask Him what to do. Ask Him to guide you to the right place which is very important. An apostolic church must have an apostle… not a self-proclaimed title but recognised by other real apostles.
If it looks like an average service where you worship, someone preaches and that’s it, it’s probably not an Apostolic church. When you are in an Apostolic church you will know. I will leave my email below if anyone has any questions.
Like the protestant reformation these things take time, there is always resistance when God starts to do something different. This is what God is doing in this season, He is doing something POWERFUL through His Bride!
Shane Rowney lives in the Gold Coast and is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts at university. He loves Jesus and is passionate about seeing people walk in their destiny. This is his email if you have any questions icryabbafather101@gmail.com
Shane Rowney is currently living on the Gold Coast attending a local church. He enjoys surfing, gym and music but most of all spending time with his Father.
